Hello everyone!
My name is Lilia-Maïlys, I come from Paris, and I’m 20 years old. I decided to move to Izmir, Türkiye, for 9 months. I arrived in September, and I’ll try to explain why I decided to do a long-term voluntary service abroad and share my experience after more than 2 months in Izmir.
After graduating from a literary preparatory school and then earning a history degree, I completed my first year of a master’s degree in Business Development and Marketing. I’ve always wanted to go abroad — both to improve my English and meet people from all over the world, to use my head start in my studies, and also to gain professional experience. I discovered the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program by chance when a friend told me about it, and I’m really glad she did! That’s why I decided to take a year off before returning to France to finish my last year of the master’s program in September 2025.
I chose to go abroad with the PI Youth Association because I loved the missions proposed by the association: working for and with young people. Personally, I didn’t know Türkiye, but I wanted to discover new horizons, open my mind to a new culture, and experience new ways of working.
Here, we have the chance to organize English and native-language conversation clubs for various institutions in the city of Izmir. What’s more, I also like the fact that the association is very open to our proposals for activities, so we can use our personal skills to propose new workshops.
I particularly enjoy the dynamic and interactive nature of the workshops we run. On the one hand, I lead very different workshops with different age groups. On the other hand, the young people I meet are very curious to learn about French culture and other cultures, and they ask interesting questions. These exchanges encourage me to reflect on my way of living and thinking, but also on what I want to contribute here in a country with such a rich culture.
I also work in the association’s office, where I help design and manage Erasmus KA2 projects, which support the implementation of various educational initiatives. I propose and explore ideas for activities in Türkiye and in partnership with other associations abroad (partners of the PI Youth Association). This enables me to apply my analytical, project management, and organizational skills, while adapting to the varied requirements of our European partners. My role requires me to be both rigorous and creative in developing high-impact initiatives in line with the association’s objectives. In this way, my voluntary work is helping me explore different sides of my personality and develop new personal and professional skills!
The association takes great care of us: each of us has a local mentor, and mine speaks both French and English. It’s a real plus to have someone we can trust here to guide us, whether it’s for small problems or to help us better understand Turkish culture on a day-to-day basis. As for my flatmates, I live with volunteers from Germany and Italy, which makes the experience even more international! We often explore Izmir together, discovering neighborhoods and markets, and we’ve even had the opportunity to meet quite a few locals. Some of them speak English, and some even a little French, which makes our exchanges all the more fun and varied.
All in all, between living in a shared apartment and going out with the locals, I really feel like I’m immersing myself in the culture and building connections!
In Conclusion
These first few months in Türkiye have been as enriching as they have been intense. Between workshops with young people, office work, and life in a shared apartment, I’m discovering a new rhythm, new cultures, and new ways of working. This volunteer work is pushing me out of my comfort zone and helping me see the world differently. I can’t wait to see what the next few months have in store for me and to continue making the most of this unique experience in Türkiye!
